UNI track and field: Carter Morton punches ticket to 2026 NCAA Indoor Championships

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI senior Carter Morton will represent the Panther track and field program at the 2026 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, as announced by the NCAA.

Morton, a Jefferson, Iowa native will compete in the heptathlon March 13-14 at Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put and high jump events will be contested on March 13, while the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run will be held on March 14.

Morton qualifies for this year's national meet by virtue of posting a career-best score of 6,054 points at the Jimmy Grant Alumni Invitational this past December, a mark that earned him U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Athlete of the Week honors. The NCAA selects the top-16 individual athletes in each event for the national championship meet. He enters the NCAA Championships ranked fourth in the event in Division I.

Morton, who qualified in the heptathlon for the NCAA Indoor Championships and earned First Team All-American status with a fifth-place showing a year ago, is the sixth different Panther to qualify for the national indoor meet under UNI Director of Track and Field Dave Paulsen, and in nine events under Paulsen. Morton's fifth-place performance in 2025 was the best finish by a Northern Iowa athlete at the national indoor championships since Tyler Mulder's third-place finish in the 800 meters in 2009.

At this past weekend's Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Indoor Championships, Morton put on an impressive showing in the field events, winning the long jump, high jump and heptathlon in Indianapolis, while also earning Men's Most Valuable Athlete and Men's Most Outstanding Field Athlete honors.

Live coverage of the NCAA Championships can be found on the ESPN family of networks.

NCAA INDOOR HEPTATHLON SCHEDULE

March 13

60-Meter Dash (11 a.m. CT)
Long Jump (11:40 a.m. CT)
Shot Put (12:50 p.m. CT)
High Jump (2 p.m. CT)

March 14

60-Meter Hurdles (11 a.m. CT)
Pole Vault (11:50 a.m. CT)
1,000 Meters (4 p.m. CT)

NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS (Paulsen Era)

2016 - Brandon Carnes | 60m Dash (10th Place)
2016 - Justin Baker | Weight Throw (15th Place)
2016 - Paige Knodle | Pentathlon (13th Place)
2017 - Brandon Carnes | 60m Dash (11th Place)
2020 - Darius King | Shot Put (14th Seed) ***
2021 - Darius King | Shot Put (12th Place)
2022 - Darius King | Shot Put (10th Place)
2022 - Isaiah Trousil | 200m Dash (11th Place)
2025 - Carter Morton | Heptathlon (5th Place)

*** Seeded 14th prior to cancellation of championships due to COVID-19 pandemic

UNI track and field action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Track and Field), X (@UNITrackFieldXC) and on Instagram (@uni_tf_xc). Schedules and rosters, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.

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